114 VARIETY IN THE LITTLE GARDEN 



garden of the Villa Leonora at Cannes, dripping with showers 

 of mimosa; Mrs. Ryves* garden in India; Cecil Rhodes' garden 

 at Groote Schuur near Cape Town, with its blue hydrangeas, 

 the special delight of their marvelous owner; the gardens of 

 Andalusia, of Denmark, of Kashmir, the garden of Mrs. Butch- 

 art at Victoria, glorious with all the flowers of England in an 

 ancient quarry there. 



Coming thus toward our own country, I think of the lovely 

 plantings of Mr. James Deering at Miami; of Mr. F. Cleveland 

 Morgan's unsurpassed rock garden near Montreal; of the beau- 

 teous French parterres of Mr. Stotesbury near Philadelphia; of 

 the gardens of Ross, of San Diego, of Santa Barbara. As we 

 think of all this beauty, is it not as if earth were garlanded with 

 gardens? 



The history of civilization is partly written in gardens. From 

 the Arabs, the Persians, the Japanese, through Pliny and the 

 Medici to Miss Jekyll, we feel and know the continuity of beauty 

 in the garden. Lady Alicia Amherst, Mrs. Wharton, Mrs. Van 

 Rensselaer, among women, have set this forth most clearly and 

 beautifully in their notable books on gardening in England and 

 Italy and on the growth of gardening in America. With gardens 

 the literature of the ages is constantly entwined. Poetry? A 

 thousand lines and stanzas spring to mind at once. If ever 

 there was a prose poem on gardens, it is Mrs. Boyle's introduc- 

 tion to Sieveking's Praise of Gardens. Romance? Who can 

 forget the closing sentences of Disraeli's Lothair: — 



"And they returned almost in silence. They rather calculated 

 that, taking advantage of the luncheon hour, Corisande might 

 escape to her room; but they were a little too late. Luncheon 

 was over, and they met the Duchess and a large party on the 

 terrace. 



" ' What has become of you, my good people ? ' said her Grace. 



